I'm still alive‏

So I haven't written a group e-mail in 3 weeks. I was very firmly chastised during my call home this week. I have now repented and will get better at e-mailing weekly.

Here are some of the things that have happened in the past 3 weeks, the good and the bad.

-We had a zone activity. We made gingerbread houses and had a white elephant gift exchange. It was more enjoyable than expected. The highlight was definitely Elder Bishop opening the dried sardines from Hermana Austin.

-Our entire district has been sick pretty much the entire transfer. First Elder Moncayo, then elder Grisham and then me, all with a stomach bug and just when we thought we were all over that Hermana Austin, Elder Moncayo and Elder Grisham all got colds. Now we all are healthy, but Elder Moncayo and Elder Grisham have cut thumbs and Hermana Austin has a cut wrist. These things always come in threes.

-Sabrina (our progressing investigator) had her baby! He is adorable and sweet, and sleeps really well so we can still have lessons. Now we are helping her prepare for her baptism in January.

-We had a really fun service activity. We helped make packages of food out of the food that stores can't sell anymore. It did include a lot of sorting through rotten fruit, which was a lot more enjoyable than you might think. At the end they also gave us all bunches of flowers to say thank you which really brightens up the apartment.

-There was the mission Christmas party. There was a program with each of the zones singing a song that corresponded to parts of the nativity story. They got really creative. There was also a testimony meeting, a dinner and 6 piñatas to finish off the day. It was a party.

-Elder Grisham has been having some serious bike troubles. 2 weeks ago he got hit by a car. He's fine, but the bike is ruined. So please please, if you drive please keep your eyes out for cyclists. They
could be a missionary.

-We had exchanges. I stayed in area this time with Hermana Evanson. We had a great day. The work was good and we taught a ton of lessons. Then we ended the night by going caroling with some members of the Ward and making tamales. It was super fun.

-Today for p-day we visited a really cool place called the Huntington. It is a park with gardens and a library and art gallery. I highly recommend visiting it if you ever are in Pasadena.

-The biggest thing of course was Christmas. There were so many things I loved about it, the meals of pozole and tamales alongside the meals of ham and potatoes; seeing Sister Xia's joy as she opened presents for the first time on Christmas morning; a Dodgers bobble head from Elder Moncayo; calling home and talking to my family; and writing a talk for my home Ward. But probably my favorite part was the few quiet moments I took on Christmas Eve. Hermana Austin had already dozed off but it wasn't quite 10:30 yet so I took a few moments to read the Christmas story in the scriptures. I started in Isaiah with the prophesies of Christ's birth and finished in Luke 2 with the baby being taken to the temple. During that time I pondered about my Savior.  I testify that He was born all those years ago in a small town, and because of that we can all be born again. I testify that because of His death and resurrection we can now all live on after death. Because of Him we can always change and always move past our mistakes and failings. I am so blest to right now be a missionary and bring the same message that the angles brought to shepherds so long ago. "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

I hope as always this e-mail finds you well. ¡Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo!

Hermana Anna Christensen

Merry Christmas

Anna hasn't written much lately, so here are some pictures she sent instead:

and a zone activity...

¡Estoy muy agradecida!‏

Since this week was Thanksgiving, I figured I would list a few of the things that I was so very grateful for this week.

1. Crunchy leaves; there are a few streets in our area that have the type of trees that drop their leaves. It makes me feel like I'm still living in a place with seasons and that they are changing. Plus I just
love leaves.

2. Single sisters, recent converts, Ward mission leaders old and new, part member families and investigators; these were all the people who decided that the missionaries were starving and needed to be fed on Thanksgiving. Fortunately for us we were only able to make it to 2.5 of the invitations (The last one was to go). It was still super sweet to see the care that these people had for us and that they wanted to include us with their own families during this holiday.

3. Ties; well specifically ties on recent converts. There has been a recent convert we have been working with and we had started to despair of ever getting him to church on time let alone there in a white shirt and tie. But then this week not only was he there before we were, but he was dressed in his Sunday best! It was just a small reminder of the changes for good that people go through as they learn about the gospel and make covenants.

4.  Leftovers; one of the people who we couldn't make it to on Thanksgiving instead invited us over for leftovers on Saturday. She is a super sweet girl named Sabrina who has been investigating the church now for about a year. This dinner was special because we were able to finally set a baptism date with her! We are now just waiting for her to have a baby, and then she can get baptized! We are all so excited!

5. Twenty Questions; because sometimes the sister missionaries get put in charge of primary classes at the last minute and need time killers. Fortunately they all loved the game. I suppose I'm also grateful to my mom for teaching me that trick.

6. New church videos;

7. My dear sweet companion; bc I'm super cool lol #companionsloveandsupporteachother

8. The opportunity to be a missionary right here right now;

Much love and prayers to all of you!

When you are in the service of your fellow beings...‏

I don't have much time to write this week so here are some pictures
from an activity we did on Saturday. We spent the whole day visiting
various families in the Ward and doing service for them with the
Elders. It was a blast!

                At the first place we were helping them paint their kitchen and tie blankets.


 Next we cleaned up a yard, and then continued on to see other members.
We did get fed, though we insisted on helping heat up the tortillas and washing the dishes.
The city lights from Montebello Blvd on the way home. Talk about a beautiful city.

After a long day all we wanted to do was fall straight into bed,
but we had to wait for transfer calls. And we waited and waited and waited but the call never came, which means that Hermana Austin and I are staying together here in San Gabriel for another transfer. Woo hoo!

Here's to a great 6 weeks!
Hermana Anna Christensen

A long week‏

This is just going to be a quick e-mail because I'm running low on time. This was a super long week. We were working long and hard every day. We did have a couple of fun experiences though. The first one was that out mission president came to our district meeting this week. I've probably said it before, but I love that man! It was so cool to have him there to learn from, and to hear about all
of his stories. It really gave us the boost we needed to keep trying throughout the rest of the week.

We also ran into a lot of fun dogs this week. To sum it all up we met 3 rats a squeaky toy and a mop. The three rats belong to a member, the squeaky toy was a German Shepherd who squeaked when he barked, but wouldn't let us into the yard, and the mop was a lost dog who was wandering about the church.

This was a really good week and I wish I had more time to write about it. Next week I will have all sorts of fun news because transfers are coming! Ahhhhhhh!

With much love and prayers,
Hermana Anna Christensen

This district's on fire!‏

This week we had a zone meeting about setting the mission on fire, and how we can do it. We had some of our standards of excellence changed (the goals we try to reach each week) and were also taught how we can improve in other ways. It was a super good meeting and we all left super inspired to go out and do the work.

And this district has been on fire! We are picking up new investigators like crazy, contacting a lot more, and have a lot more possibilities for baptisms in the coming weeks, and that's just my companion and I. The Elders have also been working super hard. They have been contacting up a storm and bringing members with them on almost all of their lessons. They also had a ton of investigators at church this week. It is so cool to see all of ours and their hard work paying off.

Though the district is on fire the temperatures have not been. On Tuesday the temperature plummeted with the sun and caught my companion and I completely unprepared. We were just leaving a lesson when we walked outside in our thin short sleeved shirts to realize we still had a 45 minute bike ride between us and our warm house. Outside there were a couple of cholos (Mexican gangsters) smoking. It was super funny because they offered to find us sweaters to wear home. We had to turn them down though. We decided a long cold ride was better than a long warm one in borrowed jackets that smelled like weed. When we got home my companion instantly curled up into a ball on her bed under about 3 blankets. I made us both hot chocolate and then nudged her into a somewhat upright position so we could plan. We have since learned to just carry a jacket around with us all day. We also have been succumbing to Starbucks hot chocolate more and more often on our ride home.

One last fun experience. Hermana Austin and I usually bring a sack lunch to eat after church. This week we decided to invite the elders to eat with us. We figured that they would just bring their little
sack lunches, but instead they decided to pack a whole picnic. They brought spaghetti, carne, rice and beans, with chicken instead of carne for me, and 3 enchiladas. We were in charge of dessert so it was
apples and Carmel dip, Holloween bunny grams and granola bars. In the words of Elder Moncayo "we all ate real good."

As always I hope this e-mail finds all of you well. Thank you for all of the love and support.
Hermana Anna Christensen

And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people,
and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
Mosiah 18:8

Y aconteció que les dijo: He aquí las aguas de Mormón (porque así se llamaban); y ya que deseáis entrar en el redil de Dios y ser llamados su pueblo, y estáis dispuestos a llevar las cargas los unos de los otros para que sean ligeras;
Mosíah 18:8

                               Alejandro, a recent convert who got the priesthood yesterday!

                                               My district eating our feast after church.

Good week for the work, bad week for the bikes‏

Sorry about no group e-mail last week, it didn't send and then I didn't have enough time to send it again. The most important thing that happened was that I'm no longer in a trio! We got a call from the
assistants to the president on Tuesday telling us that Hermana Escalante was being sent to English work. We were all super sad, but that's where she is needed most right now, so Hermana Austin and I are flying solo here.

The good thing is that the work is really starting to pick up. We had two sisters, Sandra and Elizabeth tell us that they both want to be baptized and that they are willing to do what's necessary to get there. They need to work out a few things, and come back to church a few times, but other than that they are so ready! Further updates on them as they come.

We have also been doing a lot of work with our recent converts. We have two, Alejandro and Jorge who are super solid. Alejandro was interviewed this last week to receive the priesthood, and he recently just went out and bought all new church clothes. It is super cool to work with both of them and see how the gospel has helped both of them. On Wednesday at the Ward Halloween party, Alejandro wanted to hand out candy for the trunk or treat, but didn't have a car, so we set up our
bikes in a parking space and handed out candy with him. It was probably the best idea we have ever had, and we all had a ton of fun.

In what little time we've had left this week we've been either doing service or fixing bikes. Service wise we have done everything from helping a member prepare to go out and sell elotes and raspados, (corn on a cob on a stick, and something kind of like a snow cone but so much better) cleaned up yards and made sandwiches for homeless people and then helped pass them out. As for the bikes, 4 of the 5 bikes that have passed through this district have had problems. First I got a popped tire on Monday, then Hermana Austin got one on Tuesday, then on Wednesday Elder Moncayo got a broken axel on his mission bike that was quickly made worse, I the words of Elder Grisham, "they gave us the bike in 1 piece, we gave it back in 28." We made it through Thursday and Friday without incident, then on Saturday Elder Moncayo got a flat tire on his new bike. But it's all good, because the work of the Lord is still rolling forth here, even if it's on patched tubes.

I hope as always that this e-mail finds all of you well, and that you all had a safe and happy Halloween with lots of candy. Thank you for all of the love and support I receive, it means so much to me!
Hermana Anna Christensen

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:19

Y les dijo: Venid en pos de mí, y os haré pescadores de hombres.
Mateo 4:19

 From the back working forward, Elder Grisham, me, Hermana Austin, Hermana Ramos, Elder Moncayo, and Hugito at his birthday dinner

 We dressed up in the color schemes of Thor and Loki for Halloween so we took a couple of fun pictures.

                                            A Halloween selfie with the Chinese sisters

                            I just love this picture, even if Elder Moncayo is photo bombing me.